2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Secret de Sabon

The best showing yet from this cuvee (I rated in 96+ earlier this year), the 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Le Secret de Sabon is a brilliant success and easily in the top handful of wines in the vintage. Made from mostly Grenache (it’s a field blend and the exact blend is unknown) and aged 18 months in demi-muids, it offers a full-bodied, powerful, yet perfectly balanced feel on the palate to go with knockout notes of black raspberry, currants, garrigue, licorice and Provencal herbs. Still youthful, yet drinking spectacularly today, it will continue to knock your socks off for another decade or more. Feb 2015, www.robertparker.com